Tuesday's FIDE World Cup chess quarterfinal at Baku, Azerbaijan, featured young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh losing to top-ranked Magnus Carlsen in game one.
Arjun Erigaisi, a 19-year-old GM, defeated R Praggnanandhaa, an 18-year-old GM, in another game from the last eight, winning in 53 moves to go one step closer to the semifinals.
With black pieces, Carlsen defeated Gukesh, a 17-year-old Indian prodigy, demonstrating his endgame skills and winning the match. The superstar from Norway is just a draw away from reaching the semifinals.
With black pieces, Ergaisi won the Praggnanandhaa-Erigaisi face-off between two Indian chess prodigies.
The fourth Indian in the quarterfinals, Vidit Gujrathi, was taking on Nijat Abasov in a different match. For the first time ever, four Indians are participating in the World Cup's round of eight, and one of them will advance to the semifinals thanks to the Praggnanandhaa-Erigaisi matchup.
The legendary Viswanathan Anand praised the incredible accomplishment of four Indian chess players reaching the FIDE World Cup 2023 quarterfinals, saying it is a “historic moment for Indian chess.”
“It is a historic moment for Indian chess because we had a good hand, which is multiple players who are playing, who are all good… good enough level to qualify to the final stages,” said Anand in a video shared by chess.com.
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